Sisterhood of the 19th Century Literature Students

This is a momentous evening. I submitted my first assignment that will be graded. It was a 3000-word essay discussing Jane Austen and Charles Dickens' use of the endings of their novels Mansfield Park and Oliver Twist, respectively, to make commentary on the society in which they lived. This essay has occupied a chief place in my thoughts for at least two weeks, so I'm delighted to have it written, revised, revised again and out of my hands. My flatmate Maria, from Poland, is also in 19th Century Writing, so we convened in the kitchen for a session of peer editing and trying to ensure our Harvard referencing is beyond reproach. Maria is one of my heroes; she has an MA in English Literature, and at this moment is reading a book for her PhD across the kitchen table. I think I may have gotten the better end of the peer-editing deal. After we checked and re-checked these magnificent essays we've been sculpting for days, we turned with anticipation and awe to Moodle to submit these things 16 hours before the deadline! What did we do first, in that moment when our screens cheerfully informed us that our submissions were successful? Watched a Looney Tunes video on YouTube, of course! A dinner, late, but made more delicious by the freedom and lightness we felt after submission, followed.

Other highlights?
Friday last I went to dinner at Bella Italia with some friends. I tried a lovely rosé wine and quattro stagioni (four seasons) pizza that blew me away. I do believe the pizza had mozzarella di buffala on it. When I got back to my flat, I found some friends watching "Bright Star" in the kitchen and joined them. It's a beautiful film about Keats.
Last Saturday, I spent a lovely evening with a friend after a long day of writing. We went to Nando's, a Portuguese chicken restaurant, which was a most delightful experience. You can choose from a range of heat levels for your chicken. I had a "hot" quarter chicken with a side of sweet potato mash which was amazing, as well as a few of my friends chips (meaning fries, to you Americans out there). We also indulged in some dessert. We shared a custard tart, and a little tart thing that was like a macaroon in pie crust. After dinner, we went to a pub and caught some live music while enjoying some cider. To end the evening, we watched "Remember Me," which was good, but expect a sad ending. As great as all this was, the best part of the evening was undoubtedly the company.
That's all for now from York!